The progress of boys’ hockey at Worth

Double Olympian Calum Giles believes these are exciting times for boys’ hockey at Worth after a term when the 1st XI have shown tremendous progress.

The 1st XI boys have recorded nine wins out of 12 this academic year, which builds on seven wins from 12 in 2023-24.

While girls’ hockey has been strong at Worth over many years, boys’ hockey was only introduced in 2017 and the programme is still building.

Mr Giles, who represented Great Britain at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Games in Sydney, is delighted with the progress made since joining Worth as Head of Hockey ahead of the 2023-24 academic year.

A renowned coach in addition to his glittering playing career, Mr Giles said: “Boys’ hockey is definitely moving forward at Worth. I looked at the results before I got here and they had won one game in two years. Now we have nine wins out of 12 this year. Participation has increased and we are definitely building something quite strong.

“At the beginning it is about creating an environment where people want to come and enjoy their hockey. When you have created that environment, you can be a little bit more focused.

“We don’t always talk about winning but we ask them to be better when they leave than when they arrive. The boys know if they go out and give everything they have got, then I will be happy with them and they can be happy with themselves.

“I make two commitments to the group I am working with: to make them a better player than they think they can be and to make the team better than anyone thinks they can be. Anywhere I have coached in the world, they are the two commitments I make.

“Last year the group were a little bit of pioneers. This year we are definitely pioneers in showing boys’ hockey is strong and we can compete, and that it is a strong option for boys’ sport at Worth.”

This year Worth boys and girls have also benefited from coaching by a specialist hockey goalkeeper coach in staff member Mr Thomas Brocklehurst and Mr Giles has further plans to develop hockey coaching.

He said: “There is a massive desire among the boys and girls to play hockey and I am being asked for more coaching above and beyond what we already offer. Now it is important to capitalise on that and keep the momentum moving in the right direction, so next year we will be offering more one-to-one coaching sessions.”

Find out more about hockey at Worth by clicking here and reading our sports programme.

Pictures are by Rosi Green from a recent 6-2 win against St John’s School, Leatherhead.

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